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IFC’s mission is to create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives, and we pursue it by investing in the private sector. At a fundamental level, it is the private sector that drives economic growth—a basic ingredient in poverty alleviation. At the same time, the private sector can expand access to goods, services, and livelihood opportunities for the poor, helping to ensure that growth is inclusive. IFC is particularly interested in investments with this dual rationale—investments in what we call inclusive business models.
Inclusive business models expand access to goods, services, and livelihood opportunities for those at the base of the global economic pyramid in commercially viable, scalable ways.
IFC’s clients are at the forefront of this movement. In 2010 IFC’s outstanding portfolio included approximately $6B in investment and advisory services to more than 200 firms with inclusive business models. Building on these pioneering efforts—and the development imperative—our challenge now is to greatly increase the number of financially sustainable inclusive business models operating at scale.
IFC is approaching this challenge with integrated investment and advisory services, as well as a proactive effort to document and share what we learn. Recognizing that our vision will require the combined effort of many partners, IFC is also working to foster a network of corporates, financial institutions, donors, service providers, and others interested in making the process of starting and scaling inclusive business models easier.

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G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation February 2012
The Group of 20 and IFC have initiated a competition to find the best examples worldwide of inclusive businesses. Launched as part of the G20 Leaders Summit in Cannes on November 3-4, 2011, the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation seeks to recognize businesses with innovative, scalable, and commercially viable ways of working with low-income people in developing countries. Winning businesses will be showcased at the G20 Leaders Summit in Mexico in June 2012.
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Latest IFC Inclusive Business Report now available in French and Spanish
February 2012
Accelerating Inclusive Business Opportunities: Business Models that Make a Difference has been translated into both French and Spanish. The report, first published in September 2011, analyzes IFC's client portfolio to identify seven inclusive business models that expand access to goods, services, and livelihood opportunities for the world’s poorest people while generating strong financial returns.
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Accelerating Inclusive Business Opportunities: Business Models that Make a Difference September 2011
IFC's newest inclusive business report, "Accelerating Inclusive Business Opportunities," identifies seven inclusive business models that expand access to goods, services, and livelihood opportunities for the world’s poorest people while generating strong financial returns. These models are helping companies turn underserved populations into dynamic consumer markets and diverse new sources of supply. In the process, companies are developing product, service, and business model innovations with the potential to tip the scales of competitive advantage in more established markets as well. This report summarizes and analyzes patterns in the solutions companies with inclusive business models are using to succeed.
>>> Read the press release >>> Read the report
>>> Download the full report (.pdf)
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Inclusive Business Models: Guide to the Inclusive Business Models in IFC’s Portfolio September 2011
This new guide includes a set of 31 case studies on IFC’s portfolio companies with inclusive business models. Together these companies are profitably providing goods, services, and livelihood opportunities to more than 100 million people at the base of the economic pyramid. IFC has invested in all of the models profiled in the report, meaning that financial, environmental, and social due diligence was done; that the financial projections showed a sufficiently high commercial return; and that all projects have been monitored on a quarterly basis for financial, environmental, and social results.
>>> Read the report >>> Download the full report (.pdf) |
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For more information on Inclusive Business at IFC, contact:
Eriko Ishikawa
Email: eishikawa@ifc.org